Yard work, Surprise Snow & Disney on Ice

Finally, some pictures of the kiddos for you.

We had one really nice day last week. The kids played in the yard digging up worms and replanting the flower bulbs they dug out in the fall. They also rode their bikes. Ainsley got tired of her shoes and traded them in for her favorite polka-dotted slippers. She also taught herself to ride Hannah's tricycle. She was really proud of herself, but she kept getting frustrated with our uneven driveway. She kept getting stuck on various bumps and cracks. But, Hannah was a great big sister and she was really patient with Ainsley and kept coaching and encouraging her to keep trying. What sweet girls!

Progress? At least there isn't any snow!

Some signs of spring!

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Ainsley's favorite hiding spot. She figured out the child-proof locks and she is so tiny that she fits right in the pantry with the door closed. Silly kid!

And less than 24 hours AFTER our yard-work day we woke up to this...

The kids had a blast playing in the snow, but quickly grew cold and wanted to ride bikes... bikes don't ride well on the snowy driveway! So, we went in and had hot chocolate instead.

Pretty flowers next to the rocks I dug out of random spots in my yard. Those are HEAVY rocks! Anyone know what kind of flowers those are? They are all over random spots in my yard.
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Ainsley ready to go to Aunt Cori & Uncle Rynus' house. She's got her jammies, her cute Lelli Kelli shoes that she is completely in love with & her princess sleeping bag. She's all set for a night of playing with cousins and watching good movies while Mom & Dad hang out with family, too!

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Ainsley all ready for church. What's with the fake smile?

Hannah, all ready for church

My cute girls together! Ainsley loves to carry one of Hannah's little scripture sets around. It's cute!
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Last night, we took the kids to Disney on Ice. We met up with three of Thomas' sisters and their families. When we got there we saw big signs that said no cameras allowed so I made Thomas take the camera back to the car, but we managed to get a few before the show. AND... I was so mad when we got in there because I think we were the only parents without their camera! Thankfully, my sisters-in-law were prepared and had their cameras. I don't have the photos yet, but hopefully I'll get them to scrap soon. The kids loved the show. Ainsley got a bit bored during The Lion King & towards the end of Tinkerbell, but Hannah loved it!

cute picture of my excited princess & fairy before we left

so excited in the car!

hannah posing for her photo...

hannah, ainsley, daddy & some random guy... ready for the show!

me & my girls!

after the show, looking pretty ragged!

photo of the inside of the union pacific building. it's beautiful in there! thanks, thomas, for the photo!

Scrapbook Page

Adoration by Misty Cato

These are some of my favorite pictures of Hannah from last spring. Hannah LOVES dandelions. The bright yellows in this scrapbook kit were just perfect for these pictures!


The girls and I baked pretzels yesterday. As soon as I charge my camera battery, I'll come back and post some pictures. The girls had a blast and I am really enjoying all the freshly baked pretzels.

December Photos

I have been really bad about posting photos lately, but here are some to tide you over.
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Hannah went bowling for the first time in her life. She went for a birthday party. She was a bit disappointed that she didn't bowl as well as she does on the Wii, but she had a great time with her friends. She spent more time running and hanging around (literally) than she did bowling.

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We had a family Christmas party at Grandpa & Grandma Cardall's house. The kids put on a Nativity play. Our girls were both shepherds. Then we did a gift exchange and the kids all got matching jammies. Grandma Shelly made the jammie pants for the older kids.

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We did a LOT of baking this year. I gave the girls each a plate of cookies to decorate so that they could do all the disgusting stuff like lick their frosting spoon without giving germs to the world. Mmmm... those soynut butter cookies look really good right now. I made homemade gingerbread with Ruthie's recipe. It was amazing.

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We went to temple square. I played around with my new camera and got some amazing photos. You can't really tell how good they are in these photos, but I was really impressed with the quality of photos.

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These are the dresses that Grandma Ruthie sent the girls for Christmas. LOVED them!

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These are our Christmas pictures. Not too great, but that's okay.

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And these are actually from last week, but they fit. Ainsley threw a snowball at Hannah and missed by a mile. Hannah threw a giant snowball at Ainsley's face and hit her right-on. Then we built a snowman. The snow wasn't great for building snowmen or even snowballs. But we managed and then Ainsley ate half the snowman eyes... Oreos.

That's it so far. Every day is an adventure with my kids.

A couple of scrapbook pages

These are some photos from the fall of last year. I love these smiling faces!

Misty Cato's
Where Fairies Dance
Watercolor Spills
Cutting Templates Page mats
Say It With Stamps

Krystal Hartley's
Page Parts: Photo Clusters

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And these photos are from November when the kiddos were sick.

Krystal Hartley's
Page Parts: Photo Clusters
Sweetie from 2009 Sweet Shoppe Quarterly Asstmt Vol4
Font: Please Explain from Filling Out Paperwork by DJB & Krystal

pig by spotted dog designs

another layout...

I scrapped again today! I used a brand new Page Kit called PS-ILY by The Ettes at ettesandcompany.
Don't forget... this weekend is their birthday and you will find lots of cute gifts on their site!

A couple of scrapbook pages

These three cute pages were scrapped using the
Sweet 'N' Sassy Collection by The Ettes at ettesandcompany

(this one also used Templ-Ettes Collection 5 by The Ettes)

I just love these adorable colors for pages about my girls!
And you may see one of these pages at ettesandcompany again on Saturday!

My pretty girls!

The absolutely fabulous Jenna Nelson has done it again! Just look at these stunning photos of my girls!

Jenna took us to downtown Provo, behind one of my favorite college haunts, Gandolfo's. We walked around the block taking photos but my favorites (and I think Jenna's, too!) were the ones we got in the alleys behind the shops & restaurants. Amazing textures and colors! I never get nervous when Jenna does our photos because I know that she will get something amazing!
Check out Jenna's site for more amazing photos!

Today's Adventures

Our adventures began early this morning! After we dropped Hannah off at the bus stop, Ainsley & I headed over to the car repair shop to get the Subaru ready to turn in. We have a rental car for a few days... I am so excited! The manager at Enterprise upgraded me to a TRUCK for free! Score! Now I can go to Home Depot tomorrow and get my shed!!! I am itching to find a flea market or something like that still open this weekend... I think I am too late in the season for that, though. How much fun would that be?! I think I need a truck permanently. Who wants to contribute to the "Get Meredith a Truck" Foundation? :) Ainsley loves riding in the truck because she can see everything. Hannah used to love to ride in Poppa's big black truck for the same reason. So, after the excitement of getting a TRUCK with unlimited miles (nice!) I decided to head out to Hobby Lobby. I got a few random Christmas & Halloween things that I needed for various scrapbooking/crafting projects I am working on. AND... I found two beautiful glass knobs for my bathroom vanity. My bathroom is so blah, and I just love how these dressed that up! It looks so much better than the cheap brushed-nickel-wannabe knobs that were there. Thomas says that they look like something that were in his Grandma S's house 70 years ago... I take that as a compliment! :) And check out my bathroom mirrors. I am pretty proud of them. They are the $3 wood mirrors from Ikea with 5 coats of paint, 3 coats of stain & a coat of polyurethane. Up close, they look like reclaimed barn wood. If I can't live in a farmhouse, I'll make my house look like one on the inside. That's why I have roosters in my kitchen!

(excuse the open toilet, Ainsley just finished using the potty)

I wanted to get kitchen knobs, too, but that was going to be $28 and I didn't want to spend that much today. But I know where to get them when I am ready. I really think I am going to paint my cabinets white & distress them. I am so tired of blah blah oak. And I heard that you can buy paint for your countertops... Watch out Home Depot, I'm coming to buy PAINT! Okay, I am dreaming, but I have big plans for this house and it will only take me five years to be able to get to them all. I want to paint the outside of my house, too. Green with off-white trim, black door & flower boxes. There is a house a few blocks from here that I want to copy! :)

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After my mad dash to Hobby Lobby & a quick trip to Target for diapers, Ainsley & I went and picked up Hannah at the bus stop. We got home and decided that it was too nice of a day to simply go inside. So, we headed out on a nature walk with a bag and a camera. I didn't take many pictures, but we did find some magnificent pine cones.

(Hannah is wearing her PUMPKIN SHOW jacket that used to be Shelby's!)

This pine cone will most likely be making an appearance in several digital projects I have coming up. Isn't she pretty? Are pine cones male or female? Anyone know?

It was a great day and my kids actually ate TACOS for dinner... kind of. Ainsley ate hers as bean dip with tortilla chips and Hannah made hers into a taco salad with ranch dressing and all was right with the world. I love tacos.

That's it for today.

Some Pictures

I am finally getting around to posting pictures of this month!

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Ainsley decided that she is done with naps... except for when she falls asleep on the living room floor on a box. But that doesn't count as a nap, right?


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Earlier this month, my sister, Angie, and her husband and daughter came to Utah for his sister's wedding. We were able to spend a few hours with Ang & Tom & Maddy. My kids were mean to Maddy. Maddy teased Hannah. Hannah cried. All in all, a typical experience with Hannah these days! :) Ainsley & Maddy actually played pretty well together. Hannah wrote a play and organized refreshments.

Angie was a beautiful flower.

Maddy liked Dora's hair.

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Ainsley & I met Chrissy at the library for storytime. The story lady was dressed up like a pirate and had cute eye patches and bandanas for the kids to wear. Not Ainsley. But since then, she has been asking to go back and see the pirate lady.

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Hannah's school had a fundraiser a couple weeks ago. The kids were supposed to jog for 20 minutes and sponsors paid them for each lap they completed. There were four different checkpoints for the kids to check in. Each child was assigned to a different checkpoint. They were hoping to avoid a bottleneck. Hannah was kinda oblivious. She stopped at each checkpoint to get a mark on her tally sheet! Thankfully she didn't have any sponsors (we're bad parents and don't believe in doing school fundraisers that way) who were paying per lap.
She did a really great job running. She ran or walked the entire way. I was so proud of her!

excuse the messy face, please

Hannah's teacher is so cute and so sweet with the kids. She puts her arm around each child every day as they are leaving and talks to each one.

The most adorable cheerleader at the school! :)

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It's finally fall! Thank goodness. Ainsley loves to go outside and play after we drop Hannah off at the bus stop. Or after we go to the store. Or any reason she can find to be outside. Look, her hair is done.

No hair done here. I promise, she pulled out her own clip and hid it. We raked up a big pile of leaves for the girls and they had a great time.

Our house with the Halloween decorations and Ainsley peeling bark off our dead tree.

Thomas on the roof winterizing the swamp cooler.

Ainsley playing in the leaves

Hannah playing in the leaves, too.

I love this tricycle.

I think I want to edit this photo and frame it for my living room, or the play room.

My girls, relaxing in a leaf pile.

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We went to pumpkin patch last night for the Cardall family party. It was a cute little farm with a produce stand. They have beautiful pumpkins with the vines still on them. Loved it! Grandma and Grandpa let each kid pick a pumpkin from the wagon. Hannah picked one for Ainsley and one for herself. She was quite picky and chose two perfect little pumpkins.

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This morning, I met four of my aunts, a few of their kids, my cousin's wife and her kids and my two little kiddos at Gardner Village. We went to Pine Needles, an adorable little fabric store, and some other cute shops. We had lunch at Archibald's... S.L.O.W. but really good. My kids were horribly behaved, but I really enjoyed my time with my aunts. It was so nice to see them. And I got a beautiful new quilt from my aunt JoAnn. It's in browns and oranges and is folded over the back of my couch. LOVE it!

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Tonight, Hannah & I went to her Primary carnival. We got there and found out that it was a family carnival, but Hannah decided that she wanted some girl time, so we didn't go home and get Daddy & Ainsley. Hannah & I had fun at the carnival. They had face painting, balloon animals (with a clown, and I didn't freak out), games, coloring, cake walk, popcorn, hot chocolate. They did a really great job and Hannah had a blast.

Isn't she the most beautiful Tinkerbell ever? I can't believe that my baby is so grown up!


Well, that's it so far. We have a really busy next couple of weeks. I'll post more photos when I get some!